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Aug 2021
14m 36s

Rewind: The Mandela Effect

CHELSEY WEBER-SMITH
About this episode

In preparation for our upcoming *Weirdest Episode of All Time*, we are rereleasing this minisode on a mysterious phenomenon where large numbers of people remember an event or cultural detail differently than it really was. From the spelling of 'Berenstain Bears' to the funeral procession of Nelson Mandela, people have explored these cognitive discrepancies through the lens of both mass psychology and of course, the multiverse theory. We'll see how the internet expanded these odd mis-memories into an enormous world all their own. Next week, we'll look at the #Elsagate controversy of 2017, when scores of uncanny valley-esque hauntingly inappropriate videos were discovered on YouTube Kids. We'll try to get to the bottom of whether it is a mass conspiracy to hypnotically groom children or the result of an algorithm we no longer control. That's next Monday!


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American Hysteria is written, produced, and hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith

Sound design by Clear Commo Studios

Produced by Miranda Zickler

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